A Simple Mistake
by TailFear
Summary: Originally a crack!fic. NarutoHP cross. A simple mistake in a summoning spell lands Naruto and Gaara at Hogwarts in the midst of the war against Voldemort. Good job Harry.
1. Of Demons and Summoning Spells

Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor Harry Potter.

Revised 6/09.

**A Simple Mistake**  
By: TF

**Chapter 01: Of Demons and Summoning Spells **

Moving forward could be broken down into a series of easily repeated movements. Look forward, find next branch large enough to support his weight, crouch, release chakra, spring forward, flare chakra, stick to next branch, and repeat. Simple really, not much thought needed when he'd perfected this skill years ago. So easy that he could even increase his speed until the surroundings consisted of green and brown blurs and even the wind had become nothing but static background noise.

His feet hit and stuck to the next branch before he crouched and sprang off, landing on the next branch with an angry thud. He was angry, so angry that his movements were fueled with so much unnecessary force that he was leaving his teammates behind, that he barely had time enough to make solid contact with the next branch before he was off again. It was too much to stop for even just a minute, too much to calm down and think rationally, too much to listen to his teammates as they yelled for him to slow down until they could catch up.

Furious thoughts swirled through his mind, circling each other and going nowhere because there was nowhere to go. Again he was going to be too late. Too late to stop the attack, to save his friend, to convince his teammate to stay. Sunagakure was three days away, three _fucking_ days. That was three days that Gaara was stuck in the hands of those Akatsuki bastards. He wasn't going to let those fruity, cape-wearing, fashion rejects kill the only person so similar to himself. Gaara wasn't going to die alone, wasn't going to end up abandoned like he had been all of his life, wasn't going to be left to die in the hands of enemies.

"Naruto!"

The shout caught him off guard, almost sending him tumbling through the canopy before he managed to catch himself, using chakra to stabilize his footing. With a snarl he whipped around, teeth bared for a moment before he remembered that he was traveling with his teammates.

"Naruto, we can't keep up this pace. You need to slow down, wearing yourself out won't do anyone any good," Kakashi's visible eye was narrowed in an unreadable fashion, making Naruto want to bolt again just to spite the jounin.

"We're wasting time," Naruto snapped, fists balling at his sides as he watched Sakura and Temari come up behind them out of the corner of his eyes. "Every minute we spend here is a minute that Gaara is in the hands of those cape-wearing bastards! I can't allow that to happen!"

Naruto thought that he probably could have dodged the fist that plowed into his face if he hadn't been shouting, but some things just couldn't be avoided. Pain flared in his cheek as he rocked back, stopping the words from flowing out of his mouth.

"We know that you're upset, Naruto, but you have to slow down. Non of us can catch up to you," Sakura said, watching her blond teammate with concern. He was clearly agitated and faintly starting to glow a red color as his chakra swirled aggressively around his form and his whisker marks started to darken. "You aren't the only one on this mission. We're all in this together, so we can't just have you so far ahead. Please Naruto, please just slow down."

Naruto sighed, closing red tinged eyes for a minute before visibly calming down, chakra settling back to his normal blue as his face started to soften. A few deep breaths later the blond opened blue eyes and nodded, feeling resigned.

"Fine, fine," Naruto muttered, turning to jump forward to the next branch. "But I'm not going to fail him.

He didn't hit the branch he aimed for, instead he overshot his mark as _something_ took a hold of his body and squeezed. Naruto tried to breathe while his body felt like it was being constricted and pulled at the same time while falling, but it was hard to breathe while screaming.

"Naruto! NARUTO!" Sakura's voice was screaming shrilly in his ears before dissolving into white noise as his world sunk into blackness.

-------

Harry scowled irritably at his wand as he once again moved it through the air and produced nothing. It was Charms, and they were supposed to be performing an advanced version of the _Accio_ charm meant to transport people short distances. As charms went it wasn't complex, but it required a surplus of energy that wasn't practical in any sort of emergency situation.

"You of all people should be able to do this Harry," Hermione said, casually twirling her wand in the air. "You have the most magical capacity out of everyone."

"Why don't you do it then?" Harry snapped, crossing his arms when his bushy-haired friend rolled her eyes.

"Fine, but only to show you how simple it really is," she huffed, and with a swish of her wand had a bewildered and unbalanced Ron wobbling in front of her. "See?"

"What happened?" Ron asked, blinking at the sudden –slight- change in scenery.

"Hermione, as usual, managed to perform the charm," Harry said.

"If you would just try it you wouldn't find it so hard," Hermione protested, scowling when both boys rolled their eyes. "Stop pouting and just try it. If you manage one person, then I'll try two. If you can move two people and I can't then you'll see what I'm talking about."

"Fine," Harry muttered, and with a swish of his wand brought Neville stumbling before him. Harry's eyes widened as he looked at his wand, "Whoa."

"See, I told you," Hermione was hard pressed to keep the smugness out of her voice. Another flick of her wand produced Lavender Brown, mouth hanging open as she finished the last syllable of her conversation. Hermione frowned, and with another flick of her wand only managed to bring over Pavarti as sweat started to trickle down her forehead.

"Now you have to move two people," Ron muttered, watching Hermione pant for breath. "Otherwise you'll never get a chance to show her up."

"This isn't about showing me up," Hermione snapped, rolling her eyes again when the boys exchanged looks.

"Fine, fine. But if this doesn't work the way it's supposed to don't be surprised," Harry muttered as he waved Ron to the other side of the room. Hermione moved to the side and shut her mouth tightly, radiating anticipation as she watched Harry concentrate on his target.

'_Red and blond, red and blond, red and blond,'_ Harry concentrated on the color of Seamus and Ron's hair. He should have really been focusing on them, who they were to him, but hair color was much easier, and thinking 'toad' had worked for Neville. _'Red and blond…'_

"_Accio persona!_"

Harry closed his eyes and waited for the rush of air that signaled the arrival of a person moved by the spell. After a few seconds he sighed and cracked open one of his bright green eyes, only to feel the bottom drop out of his stomach as the magic left him in a rush that sent him staggering.

"Harry, what happened?" Hermione's voice sounded close to his ear.

"I'm not sure," he murmured, watching his friend's face as it swam in his vision. "What did you feel?"

"Nothing mate," Ron said from the other side of the room. "We felt a huge rush of magic coming out of you, but never moved."

Harry frowned as he steadied himself on Hermione's shoulder, "I felt something."

"We all felt something," Seamus said, rubbing his arms from the tingle of magic. "But that doesn't mean it went anywhere."

"What seems to be the problem?" Professor Flitwick made his way over to their group, eyes wide at the magical residue that was still hovering over the area.

"Nothing Professor, only a charm that didn't work," Hermione said with a sigh.

"What do you mean, it didn't work?" Flitwick asked, looking at Harry and Hermione sharply. "The spell worked, it just hasn't rebounded and brought your targets to you yet."

"What do you mean? Ron and Seamus didn't move," Harry said with surprise as he looked over at the other two Gryffindors.

"What did you concentrate on?" Flitwick asked, watching the small group carefully.

"Their hair color," Harry replied sulkily.

"That's your problem. You need to concentrate on who they are to you. Now we'll just have to wait and see who pops up," Flitwick said. "Be ready for anything."

Harry, Hermione, and Ron shared a look as they moved to a close cluster of desks to await the results of the magic Harry had let loose. Within a few moments the rest of the class had heard and had started to mill around, occasionally rubbing arms or the back of their necks as magical pressure started to build in the room. Soon students were cringing from the build up, the feeling of a weight pressing down and pushing on their forms as they waited uncomfortably.

Suddenly the pressure disappeared amidst a small explosion of dust and displaced air, leaving half of the class coughing as they tried to see who had appeared. Through the settling dust they could see the blurred shapes of what looked to be several figures sprawled onto the floor, one rolling and gasping for breath as the other lay prone.

After a few hacking coughs the rolling figure got to its feet a bit unsteadily, looking around with confusion as the dust settled onto the stone floors. The whole class gaped at the blond clad in glaring orange and the red head in black sprawled limply across the floor, watching in astonished silence as the blond finally regained his balance and got a grasp of his situation before he started yelling in a foreign language.

The classroom was filled with silence as the boy quieted before small conversations burst abruptly to life around the blond, making him jump nervously and shout again. Before Flitwick could take control of the situation the blond made a few obscure hand gestures and let loose another shout and suddenly there were two more of him standing in the classroom.

"Class, calm down. Don't excite him anymore than he already is," Flitwick's squeaky voice rose above the gathering din as he tried to regain control. "Pavarti, Lavender, go alert Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore. We will need their assistance as soon as possible."

The two girls scurried out of the room as the rest of the students settled down, keeping their movements as slow as possible as they boy calmed down long enough to take a better look as his surroundings. His blue eyes widened as he saw the red head sprawled out behind him and he started yelling again and frantically searching through his pack.

"_Translatio_."

As Flitwick muttered the spell the boy's words suddenly became clear, loud and ringing as the blond's voice echoed around the room.

"Gaara! Wake the hell up! I know you aren't sleeping. You stupid idiot, getting yourself captured. If you don't wake up then we're all going to be in trouble. At least flutter your eyes or something!"

The boy's voice had taken a curious note of panic as he finally found what he had been looking for in his pack. Deft fingers untied the pouch and took out a small pill which he placed in the red head's mouth and forced the other boy to swallow.

"What are you doing?"

Hermione's indignant question caused the boy to whirl around, steel filling his hands as he crouched over the prone boy on the floor, two clones flanking him protectively.

"Who the hell are you?" the question was snapped back without the boy even questioning his sudden ability to understand the conversation going on around him.

"Hermione Granger. What did you just give that boy?" Hermione didn't falter when the boy glared at her, still hovering protectively over the red head on the floor.

"None of your business," the blond snapped, eyes narrowing. "Where am I? What is this place?"

"You're in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In England," Hermione said, rolling her eyes when she realized that she had become unofficial spokesperson of the group.

"Hogwarts? England?" the boy's confusion was clear as he looked around the classroom again with a sinking face.

"Yes," Hermione wasn't sure if it was a good thing to answer the boy when he started looking like a caged animal, especially since his hands were still filled with what looked like small stars and knives.

Thankfully the red head shifting on the floor distracted the blond before he could do something potentially dangerous. A low moan issued from the red head as his eyes fluttered, green eyes looking around blearily as he slowly regained consciousness. The blond made sure that he was positioned directly in the red head's line of sight even when Pavarti and Lavender burst through the door of the classroom closely followed by McGonagall and Dumbledore.

"What seems to be the problem here?" Dumbledore's calm voice distracted most of the class away from the spectacle as they looked up at the sound of the classroom door bursting open.

"A summoning charm of Potter's gone wrong," Flitwick squeaked. "These boys ended up here as a result."

The two new adults watched as the red head's eyes cleared and focused on the blond leaning over him. Apparently they knew each other, because the red head wasn't panicking like the blond had done when he had first arrived. The blond jumped back as the red head sat up, giving the other boy some room as his extras disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Hey, hey, how are you feeling?" the blond boy leaned forward again, carefully watching the red head as he moved closer.

"Where?" the red head's voice was scratchy, dry from being carted through the desert and rough from disuse.

"I dunno. Some school of witches in some place called England," Naruto said quietly, watching the group of clustered students as they moved closer to the door. "I have no clue where we are, or who these people are, or what the deal is with the sticks that they're pointing at us."

"Akatsuki?"

"Not here," Naruto said, frowning when his stomach started to churn uncomfortably.

Dumbledore and the other teachers watched as the blond suddenly turned away from the red head and retched, clutching his stomach painfully as he steadied himself against the floor. They shared looks as the boy recovered slowly, grimacing as he continued to clutch his stomach.

"If all students would move away from our new arrivals we will resolve this situation peacefully."

Dumbledore watched as all of the students clustered closer to the door watching the teachers anxiously while shooting sideways looks in the direction of Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Neither boy _looked_ particularly dangerous, but both were wary enough, and dressed oddly enough, that they presented a possible threat. The moment Dumbledore stepped forward the blond was up again, knives in both hands as he crouched defensively in front of the red head.

"Calm down, we aren't going to hurt you," McGonagall said sternly as she moved to flank Dumbledore along with Flitwick.

"Bullshit! You bastards brought us here, the hell you won't try something!" Naruto's shout raised eyebrows and elicited a few indignant gasps over his language.

"It was a simple _mistake_ that brought you here," Dumbledore soothed as he raised his voice over the blond boy's. "We have no intention of doing anything to you other than finding a way to send you home, so there is no need to shout."

The blond growled and got ready to spring until the red head wrapped a hand around one of the blond's arms, stopping the other boy before he could start fighting. Instantly the blond stilled, turning slowly to look back at the other boy as if the red head was something unpredictable.

"Naruto."

The blond wilted before their eyes as he let the red head take control, much to the surprise of their audience. There was a moment of silence as the two boys watched each other before the blond brought another pill out of his pack and handed it to the red head. The taller boy swallowed it before anyone could protest, and almost instantly started looking better, although the dark bruising around his eyes never faded.

"Who are you, and where is this?" the red head's voice was eerily calm, without the normal emotional inflections most people spoke with.

"You are currently at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, in a Charms classroom, in the country of England. I am Albus Dumbledore, and these are Professors Flitwick, and McGonagall," Dumbledore's voice was pleasant and light, as if he were simply making routine introductions before a tour.

Both boys shared another look before the red head stood up, leather bindings hanging empty and limp down his back as he coldly regarded the robed figures. The blond, while quiet, wasn't able to stay still as he continually moved from foot to foot and watched the room with nervous movements.

"How far away is Wind Country?" the red head's voice was sharp as he asked the question, watching everyone in the room shift with subtle confusion under his unnerving green eyes.

"I'm sorry, there is no such country," Dumbledore replied calmly, watching the blond still as the implications of their situation set in.

**TBC…**

Revision!

A/N: After 3 years I guess I'm back to this story (what can I say? I'm bored). So, I've revising everything, starting at the beginning.

I don't remember everything from HBP as I only read the book once three years ago, so if things are off, things are off, I don't care. I'm not reading the book again, and I'm definitely not bothering with the 7th book either (haven't read it, don't want to as I feel the books started to deteriorate after GoF). I'll try to keep some things similar (like teachers and Harry stalking Draco), but otherwise it is up to my imagination. So, I will ignore all complaints about how things are wrong. Fair warning.

Otherwise, yay, this story is back! I need to revise the first 4-ish chapters and make some major changes so that the initial plot makes sense. I started this story from a crack-tastic dream, so going back and explaining things better seems to be needed.


	2. Sand and Sleeping Potions

Standard disclaimer, see previous chapter.

**A Simple Mistake**  
By: TF

**Chapter 02: Sand and Sleeping Potions**

Naruto knew that he was in trouble from the first foreign sensation he felt, he just didn't know how bad it was going to be. When he'd regained his balance and sense after hiding behind a few of his clones he'd found himself surrounded by oddly dressed people pointing sticks in his direction and babbling in an unknown language. If that wasn't enough he'd turned and found Gaara lying prone on the floor, arms and legs flopped almost bonelessly on the stone floor.

The translation charm hadn't done much more than startle him as he fed Gaara a soldier pill in hopes that the red head would regain more consciousness than he had. Gaara's sand may have been missing, but, as far as he knew, the other boy still housed a badly sealed demon that tended to go rabid with or without the sand. It took almost no effort to yell back at the bushy-haired girl, weapons in hand as she tried to get him to stop helping Gaara before more oddly dressed adults filed into the already crowded room and continued pointed more sticks in their direction.

Then, much to Naruto's relief, Gaara stirred and finally woke up enough to figure out the situation was far from normal. Even when Naruto felt his seal tugging so hard at his stomach that he puked as Kyuubi's voice roared angrily through his head he was glad that he wasn't alone. He let Gaara take control without a hassle, even through his panic and readiness to attack, submitting to Gaara's warning before the red head silently requesting another soldier pill.

But Naruto really knew he was in trouble when Gaara asked the most important question, "How far are we from Wind Country?" and got a reply of, "I'm sorry, there is no such country." They weren't even far from home, they were in a whole world not their own.

Beside him Gaara's breathing sped up as his green eyes widened in barely concealed shock. Naruto wasn't sure what to do first, follow through on jumping the old guy telling him that there was no way to get home or calm down Gaara before things got even more out of hand. Gaara chose for him when he put his head between his hands and held it there for a moment, face contorted with pain as his breathing got erratic for a few tense moments before he calmed.

"Gaara?"

Naruto wasn't sure who (or what) was in control until the red head took another deep breath and glared at him instead of giving him an insane look like the blond knew Shukaku would have done. The robed adults were all sharing looks while the students whispered in easily overheard tones.

"It would seem that you two will be stuck here for a while," the old man with the long beard said. Naruto refrained from rolling his eyes and saying, "No, really?" when Gaara gave him a sharp look.

"I can see that you two have been through a scuffle or two, so we're inviting you to spend the night in our infirmary as we decide what to do about this situation," the man continued, light eyes watching the shinobi duo carefully as they communicated silently before the red head nodded. "If that's settled, then please follow me and my associate without attacking any of our students. That does mean put your weapons away."

Naruto hesitated, but finally returned his kunai and shuriken to their proper pouches while wearing a skeptical look. Gaara watched the other boy for a moment, darkly ringed eyes appraising Naruto as he twitched with the insecurity that came along with being unarmed. After a moment the blond nodded and Gaara led the way, consciously taking point while Naruto created an extra clone to help him watch the rear as they left the classroom amidst whispers.

No one was in the hallway except for a longhaired cat that hissed at the passing boys before disappearing around a corner as the small group passed it by. The female teacher shook her head at the animal, much to the old man's amusement.

"Albus, what is the meaning of this? Who are these two boys?"

The elderly wizard stopped the nurse's questions with a raised hand, motioning for her to lead the way through the infirmary. She muttered, but led them past gaping students anyway until they were in a more private corner of the infirmary and mostly alone.

"This is the only place that they'll be relatively left alone," the nurse said, frowning when the old man, Albus, smiled brightly. "I'll leave you to finish your conversation before I start running a few diagnostics to insure their health."

Everyone was silent as the woman walked away before the two adults turned back towards Naruto and Gaara as Naruto released his clone. The adults jumped, then looked at each other for a moment before the woman sighed and started introductions.

"I am Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, and Deputy Headmistress. This," she gestured to the man beside her, "is this school's Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore."

The two boys watched them silently, wary eyes moving between the two adults as the introductions were made. There was another moment of silence before McGonagall sighed and looked at the boys reprovingly.

"After being introduced to someone it is polite introduce yourselves in turn," she said sternly, watching the boys share looks. It was obvious that the red head had become the leader of the two judging by the way the louder blond kept deferring to him. Their faces were hard and composed as they looked around, easily ignoring the annoyed looks they were receiving.

"Boys," Dumbledore said, waiting until they both looked at him before continuing, "it would be nice if we knew your names."

Naruto shared another look with Gaara as they considered the situation for a moment. They weren't captured or under interrogation, but they were in a foreign place with strange people. After a few seconds Naruto just rolled his eyes and piped up.

"Uzumaki Naruto," he said, ignoring the way Gaara glared at him.

"Now, Uzumaki," Dumbledore was cut off when Naruto scowled and corrected him.

"My family name is Uzumaki," he snapped, rolling his eyes at the surprised looks he received. "But you can call me Naruto."

"What is the name of your friend?" Dumbledore was ignoring the darkening glare on Gaara's face, but the sheer animosity the boy radiated was hard to ignore.

"Sabaku no Gaara," Naruto said, meeting Gaara's eyes as the other boy started to get even more agitated.

"Sabaku.. no Gaara?" McGonagall asked, curiously watching what looked to be grains of sand starting to collect in the air above the red head.

"Uh, just Gaara," Naruto said, also watching the grains of sand drifting off of the red head's black clothes.

"Alright, Naruto and Gaara. As you know, you are in our school, and possibly in a world not your own. The most we can do at the moment is offer you a place to stay here as long as you don't cause harm to come to our students until we can figure out a way to send you back home," Dumbledore said. "Eventually we might have to figure out a way to integrate you into the school, but you will be settled here for the night. We will give you a few days to adapt before we discuss any significant changes."

The nurse came back, eyes wide as she too watched the small grains that were starting to swirl above the red head. "What is the situation?"

"They will be staying here for the night, Poppy," Dumbledore said, smiling at the flustered medi-witch.

"What's wrong with the red-haired boy?" she asked, watching the sand move angrily, and noting the slightly haze in the boy's eyes as well as the manic smile that was starting to grow.

Naruto blinked and looked at Gaara along with everyone else before sighing and hauling off and punching Gaara in the face hard enough to make the red head rock back.

"Boy!"

"Naruto!"

Naruto ignored the exclamations of surprise as he watched the sands settle even as the glares increased. Gaara pulled himself upright, giving Naruto a look that made the blond shiver.

"You were starting to do some creepy sand thing. I'd rather not be squished," Naruto squeaked, sighing in relief as Gaara turned away from him and the minute amount of sand that had been gathered settled.

"I will have you know that we don't approve of physical violence," McGonagall said, watching how Naruto paled under Gaara's look.

"It's fine," Gaara snapped, calming down enough to quit sending Naruto looks of death, much to the blond's relief.

The three adults shared a look for a moment at the apparent disregard the two boys had for hitting each other before McGonagall finished explaining their situation.

"Right now it is still early afternoon, so you'll be here for a while as you heal. Dinner will be brought up to you as long as Madame Pomfrey deems you fit enough to eat. We will leave you in her care until the morning when we will return for you. If you feel the utmost need to leave the infirmary ask Madame Pomfrey to call for one of us and we will escort you where ever you need to go," McGonagall waited until the two boys nodded before adding her last comment. "No more hitting each other, we do not tolerate violence in this school."

Naruto rolled his eyes at the backs of the adults as they left, robes billowing behind them as they walked away. After checking to make sure that there wasn't anyone within hearing range he turned to Gaara, eyes apologetic as he looked at the small bruise forming on the other boy's cheek.

"Sorry I had to hit you," Naruto said, moving close enough to the other boy to be companionable, but not close enough to invade the other boy's personal space.

Gaara turned his head to watch the blond with narrowed eyes before taking a deep breath and letting it go slowly. Shukaku was snickering somewhere in the back of his mind, shrill tones echoing faintly around his head. Even if the demon didn't get out, it got close enough to distract Gaara, which made it almost as happy as causing the boy pain. His control seemed to be shaky at best at the moment, but luckily, the scrape with the Akatsuki seemed to have left his demon feeling as drained as he currently did.

"I understand," Gaara said in his usual flat tone.

"Boys, you can use the beds behind you."

They both looked up at Madame Pomfrey as she bustled over with her wand out, but not necessarily pointed in a threatening manner. Naruto shrugged and sat on the bed after sharing a look with Gaara, eyeing the medi-witch warily. She waited patiently between the two beds as the boys situated themselves before turning to the less intimidating of the duo.

"Albus said that you were having stomach problems," she said, looking at Naruto who scowled and rubbed a hand over the covered seal.

"It's gone away now. I just don't deal well with being jerked around by my stomach," Naruto said quickly, watching her distrustfully. "I'm fine, I don't need anything stitched up either. Even if I did it would only be for a few minutes anyway."

"I would still like for you to hold still for this," Madame Pomfrey said, gently pushing the blond boy down onto the bed as she held her wand a few inches above his skin and slowly moved it down the length of his body. "What I'm doing right now is just a diagnostic scan. I want to make sure that you don't have any injuries or a sickness that you don't know about."

Naruto nodded warily, keeping a close eye on the wand as it passed over him. He was reminded slightly of Tsunade when she was healing a patient, the green glow coming from the wand was about the same color as the chakra she generated for the medicinal jutsus.

"Hmm," the nurse muttered, frowning slightly as she ran the spell again. "Well, you don't seem to have anything wrong with you, but you do seem to have a few differences…"

"I know, it is fine," Naruto said, sitting up quickly as he scooted away from the wand still positioned over him. "It isn't anything I haven't heard about before. Anyway, you said that I'm fine, right?"

Madame Pomfrey sighed and nodded, "I guess you're right. Now, Mr. Gaara, could you please lay down as well?"

Gaara removed the leather straps that used to hold his gourd and placed them on the floor before he settled back into the bed as the same spell was cast over him. Instead of watching the wand as Naruto had done, he just closed his eyes and relaxed, ignoring the rest of the room. As she had done with Naruto, Madame Pomfrey ran her wand over the boy a second time, a frown starting to form on her face.

"Well, I was mistaken, it seems like you two share some of the same differences."

Naruto nodded, unsurprised by this news.

"At the same time," Madame Pomfrey continued, "Gaara seems to have something similar to what we witches and wizards call 'magical exhaustion' as well as a massive case of sleep deprivation. Magical exhaustion is rare, and generally only happens when a witch or wizard has worn themselves out by pushing themselves too far during the course of a fight or an extremely involved or taxing spell. What happened?"

Gaara cracked an eye open and sighed before saying, "I was in a fight, that is all."

Madame Pomfrey also sighed and placed her hands on her hips as she looked down at the boy. He had already closed his eyes again, appearing to not care about the seriousness of his conditions.

When it was clear that Gaara was going to continue to ignore her, Madame Pomfrey turned to back to Naruto. "I'm going to fetch a few potions for your friend. Please, both of you stay in bed until I get back."

She waited for Naruto's nod before leaving. In a few minutes she was back and carrying a tray that held two cups.

"What exactly are you going to give him?" Naruto asked, watching the colored liquids warily.

"A potion to help boost his energy reserves and a sleep potion. He'll need sleep in order to get back to normal as quickly as possibly," she replied, noting the distinct circles around the red head's eyes weren't all kohl or eyeliner as she had initially assumed.

"No," Gaara snapped, eyes narrowing at the cups in the woman's hands.

"No what, dear?"

Gaara started to glare as Naruto muffled his laughter behind Madame Pomfrey's back, "I'm not taking anything that will make me sleep."

"But you really need some rest, just look at those circles under your eyes," Madame Pomfrey protested, eyes narrowing stubbornly as she tried to force the cup into Gaara's resisting hands.

"I'm not taking this," Gaara hissed, sitting up as the small amount of sand he'd gathered started rising to swirl in agitation.

"But-"

Naruto cut Madame Pomfrey off before she could anger Gaara further, "He doesn't sleep, so don't give him anything that will force him into unconsciousness. It's just better this way."

"Is he an insomniac? Is there some other reason? I can tell he doesn't sleep, or at least not much, but he really needs to catch up on the sleep he's missing," Madame Pomfrey said sternly, giving Naruto a frown as he supported the red head.

"No, he doesn't sleep, _at all_," Naruto snapped as Madame Pomfrey before adding in a mutter, "Which is for the best, considering the last time he went completely nuts."

"He doesn't sleep at all? That's not possible!" Madame Pomfrey protested, finally throwing up her arms and taking the tray away from the two uncooperative boys. They watched her go until she moved out of sight before arranging themselves more comfortably on their beds.

"At least you aren't in the hands of Akatsuki anymore," Naruto said quietly, keeping his eyes on the ceiling and off of the Sand-nin.

Gaara watched him for a moment before turning his back to the blond and facing the wall, sand falling to rest gently on top of his clothing and the sheets. Naruto sighed from behind him and he could hear the blond boy shifting into a better position to guard the both of them.

Silence fell over them as they drifted into their own thoughts, only looking up whenever they felt someone walking by in order to catch a glimpse of the two boys who had appeared. The news that Harry Potter had managed to summon two oddly dressed boys had spread across the school by dinnertime. Students were trying to find any and every excuse to visit the infirmary to get a glimpse of the boys for themselves.

A cracking noise between their beds startled both boys into defensive positions, a small amount of sand swirling around Gaara's form as kunai found their way into Naruto's hands. They were both surprised to see an ugly little thing holding a tray almost bigger than it was with huge ears and eyes.

"Dobby has brought dinner for you," the thing squeaked, placing the tray on the table between the beds before stepping back and looking at them expectantly.

"Uh, thanks," Naruto said, watching the thing with confusion as it beamed and disappeared with another crack.

Naruto shared a 'what the hell?' look with Gaara before they looked at the food on the tray. Their meal consisted of some baked chicken, two bowls of soup with noodles, some bread, and some pudding. After performing a quick jutsu that tested for poisons they tentatively started to eat, Naruto inhaling the soup as quickly as he could before starting on the chicken as Gaara ate at a more sedated pace.

Once they were done the thing, Dobby, returned to take their tray, squeaking at them happily before disappearing again. Naruto knew that the thing creeped him out, which meant that Gaara was most likely contemplating ways to kill it the next time it came back, especially since Gaara nearly snarled every time the thing showed up.

Not too long after that Professor McGonagall showed up looking rather put upon as she approached the two shinobi. They looked up from where they had been quietly talking and watched her expectantly as she stopped at the foot of Naruto's bed.

"What the hell was that thing that brought the food?" Naruto asked, scrunching his face up in disgust at the memory.

"That was a house elf," McGonagall said, slightly irritated at being cut off before she could even begin. "Now, why have you two been causing problems?"

"What problems?" Naruto asked, blinking up at the irate teacher.

"You both refused potions designed to help you as well as frustrating the wits out of our medi-witch," McGonagall snapped, looming over the two unaffected boys as they watched her calmly.

"She was going to give Gaara something to make him sleep, which is a bad idea," Naruto said as if it were the simplest idea in the world.

"He obviously needs the sleep if she's trying to give him the potion," McGonagall said, irritation rising as Naruto rolled his eyes and heaved a dramatic sigh while Gaara continued to look indifferent.

"He doesn't need sleep and never has," Naruto said matter-of-factly, much to the annoyance of the teacher watching them.

"I'm not going to argue with you two like this. I'm here to let you know that there will be a tour of the school organized for you in the morning that we would like for you to attend. I will be leading you to the Great Hall where you will meet the rest of the school before we head out," McGonagall said. "We know that this must be strange for you, but we would appreciate if you could cooperate with our staff while you are here."

"Hey! Hey! We aren't babies who need to be watched! We are both capable adults," Naruto snapped, puffing up with indignation as he up at the stern looking woman.

"You are a teen, and therefore, in our culture and in this school, not an adult until you are 17 years of age. Unless you can tell me that you are that old, we can't consider you anything more than children," McGonagall explained, raising an eyebrow as Naruto burst into laughter and Gaara started to look angry. "What's so funny?"

"Where we come from we are considered fully functional adults despite our age," Naruto said, still smiling at the idea that he and Gaara couldn't survive in the real world. Gaara was the Kazekage of Suna, if that wasn't qualification enough, then nothing would be.

"I'm sorry, but here you aren't," McGonagall said, starting to get irritated at the smirk the blond was still wearing.

The woman watched the two teens until they shrugged before nodding and gathering herself as she left the infirmary.

"I don't like this "tour" and children business," Naruto muttered, watching the infirmary entrance until Professor McGonagall's form disappeared.

"We'll deal with it tomorrow."

Naruto turned. Gaara's eyes were closed and his face had the almost slack quality that Naruto associated with Gaara's sand. He was right. Small particles of golden sand were drifting up from between the cracks in the stone floor and walls. The small trickle at the beginning built until there was enough sand swirling around Gaara to form a miniature sandstorm around the hospital bed.

Slowly the sand condensed and solidified until it had taken its normal gourd shape within the leather straps attached to Gaara's back. For a while after the sand settled Gaara kept his eyes closed as he sat with a strained look on his face.

When he opened his eyes and met Naruto's questioning stare he answered simply, "I am never without a weapon."

---

"Are you really planning to sort these two into houses? Why don't you just place them under Harry's watch since he was the one who managed to bring them here?" McGonagall asked, rubbing her eyes tiredly as she set her glasses down on Dumbledore's desk.

"Placing them under Harry's watch would place even more stress on the boy. Stress that he doesn't need," Dumbledore said, blue eyes watching his deputy headmaster tiredly.

"How close are we to kicking those two boys out?"

Snape stormed into the headmaster's office, robes billowing out behind him until he sat down in the extra chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. McGonagall blinked and looked at her colleague who was looking angrier than normal and was holding more animosity he normally felt for minors.

"Why, Severus, we aren't throwing the boys out," Dumbledore said, looking more amused than he had a few moments before.

"Why not? They're already more trouble than they're worth," Snape snapped angrily as he leaned forward. "My house is already in an uproar over this whole situation and it is only a matter of time before we start getting owls from parents."

"Who are these boys? They obviously aren't from around here, and we have no clue what they're capable of," McGonagall said tiredly, looking even more exhausted than before. "And Naruto's cursing just isn't acceptable."

"Good luck trying to change that," Snape muttered.

"That isn't the half of it," McGonagall continued. "When I started trying to discuss giving them a tour tomorrow and cooperating with our rules they insisted that they were adults, despite their apparent age and my explanation of our system."

"That's strange," Snape commented. "What kind of society allows kids to be considered adults?"

"One where they learn early," Dumbledore said as the two teachers turned towards him. "They wouldn't be considered adults if they didn't start whatever it is they do early.

"We will need to talk to them before the tour in the morning," the elderly wizard continued. "No fighting, no cursing, nothing destructive, and nothing that will distress the other teachers and students."

"Too late for that," McGonagall said, "the red head has already refused a sleeping potion from Madame Pomfrey and the blond even supported him by saying that sleep wasn't good for the red head."

"How can sleep not be good for someone?" Professor Snape asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose again as he absorbed the information presented. "I don't even want to know, I don't."

"Albus, what are we going to do with these boys? Now I'm almost afraid to separate them," Professor McGonagall sighed.

"We'll let the hat sort them if they agree to it. If it separates them, it separates them. Besides, this may encourage inter-house relations instead of the mess we have on our hands now. Besides, the situation can't be made worse," Dumbledore said after a moment of thought, blue eyes moving between the two teachers in front of him. "We will also want to give them more permanent translation charms in either ring or necklace form."

Snape and McGonagall took this as their sign to leave and got up, saying a quick goodbye to the headmaster as they descended the spiral stairs. Dumbledore sat alone in his office for a few minutes, watching the spinning silver instruments as Fawkes stirred from his sleep, shaking quickly as he fluffed out his feathers before turning to watch the elderly man curiously.

"We'll just have to see where this turn of events takes us, my friend."

TBC…

Revised 6/09.

If things don't make sense, please let me know.


	3. A Staff Meeting and First Classes

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Harry Potter. Sadly, Rowling and Kishimoto do, and I'd bet they aren't selling any time soon.

**A Simple Mistake**  
By: TF

**Chapter 03:A Staff Meeting and First Classes  
(or Why You Don't Aim Spells at Gaara)**

When Dumbledore called a staff meeting first thing Friday morning before breakfast no one was surprised. Since the story of the two boys had spread faster than humanly possible most of the staff had been expecting the summons, especially after a furious Snape was seen thundering down Hogwarts's hallways, his robes billowing out behind him like angry wings.

Holding the meeting the next morning gave Dumbledore time to properly mull the situation over, especially after he talked with McGonagall and Snape in his office. There was the problem of how the boys actually got into the castle, because they really shouldn't have been able to be summoned, no matter what mistake Harry made. But Flitwick had an idea as to what exactly had happened, and Dumbledore was content to let him explain the situation to the rest of the staff.

Dumbledore smiled as he entered the staff room and found that he was the last to arrive. Professor Snape was still looking surly due to Dumbledore's decision the night before, but the rest of the staff was looking at him expectantly. He took an open seat, smoothed his robes and beard, adjusted his glasses, and then started the meeting.

"By now I'm sure that everyone has learned of our new arrivals and how they got here," he continued smiling as he received nods from around the room. "After some careful thought I've decided to sort them into houses. Depending on which houses they are sorted into they will need to be taken on a trip to Diagon Alley. We will also have to perform some tests to determine whether or not they will be able to perform magic."

"If they can't perform magic, then why are we keeping them around like useless pets?" Snape asked. He had decided to move to a corner of the room where he could lean against a wall and glare appropriately.

"One of them can create what look to be visible clones of himself, and the other, Madame Pomfrey has reported, has managed to amass a gourd of sand from nowhere . This would suggest at least some magical potential, and even if they didn't have that potential, they were summoned into our world by one of us, and, due to even that alone, we wouldn't be right to put them out."

Snape snorted but fell silent as Flitwick spoke up, his squeaky voice carrying well around the room.

"I've been putting some thought into how the boys could get here with that spell, and I've come to what seems to be the most reasonable solution. The students were working on the _Accio persona_ spell, which essentially moves a person that is in sight from their initial place across the room to the person casting the spell. Normally this is done by the caster concentrating on the person they want to summon while casting the spell," Flitwick waited until the rest of the staff nodded before continuing. "But due to Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger testing each other Mr. Potter put too much power into the spell and didn't concentrate on his friends, but on their hair color."

"So he ended up summoning these boys from who-knows-where because Harry put too much power into the spell and not enough concentration," McGonagall summed up, shaking her head at the students in her house.

"Precisely," Flitwick squeaked happily. "And judging by the boys' strange attire and habits I'm tempted to say that they're from another world. Theoretically it shouldn't be possible, but in this case that would be the only explanation."

"So we have two suspicious boys from another dimension?" Professor Sprout's voice radiated disbelief as more than one Professor echoed her feelings.

"That's the gist of the situation," Flitwick responded, looking a little miffed at the negative outbursts sounding around him.

"So it would seem that we're stuck with these boys until we find a way to send them home," Dumbledore said thoughtfully.

"How can we prove this alternate dimension crap anyway?" Snape asked in his best scathing teacher voice.

McGonagall answered this question quickly before anyone else could add to the uproar, "We can prove it easily. There are charms that enable large items to fit into small containers, which would suggest the possibility of alternate realities just for that purpose. Some argue that instances such as these are just properties of magic, but that still doesn't explain where some of the items come from when we wizards call them out of thin air. One such instance of this was Harry finding Godric Gryffindor's sword in the Sorting Hat, something none of us expected."

"Theories," Snape snorted. "All of those are just theories and unexplainable events."

"But theories are considered true until proven otherwise," Dumbledore was smiling brightly at the rest of the staff as he settled the discussion. "Now that we've discussed their origins, are there any objections to our plan of action?"

A low chorus of 'no' echoed around the room, and Dumbledore smiled brightly at his staff before standing in a swirl of bright cloth.

"If that is the case then, I am leaving the matter of Diagon Alley to their eventual head or heads of house, and the matter of a more permanent translation charm to Professors Flitwick and McGonagall. We will perform the basic tests for magical potential tomorrow morning before their trip to London."

Slowly the rest of the staff filtered out of the staff room after Dumbledore, discussing the recent events as well as classes and students as they headed up to the Great Hall where breakfast was being delayed for the soon-to-be-sorted shinobi. McGonagall and Flitwick waited until the staff room was emptied of everyone but them before they headed up to the infirmary to collect the new students.

Sometime during the night Naruto had curled up around his mission pack as he slept, and as McGonagall and Flitwick appeared in front of the two beds Naruto shot up, blinking sleepily with an imprint of his pack standing out in red on his cheek. McGonagall just sighed as she looked between him and Gaara who was looking at what seemed to be a collection of small scrolls and occasionally marking them in red ink with a bamboo brush.

Naruto asked a question, words tumbling out of his mouth in a foreign language similar to some in the Orient. After a moment the blond stopped talking and gave them curious looks while Gaara looked up and said a sentence that had Naruto blushing because of the obviousness of the situation.

"_Translatio_," Flitwick cast the charm over the two boys as he dug the two permanent translation charms out a pocket of his robe.

"Now that we can understand each other, I'm going to give you a run-down of the situation," McGonagall said, quickly taking charge as she looked the two boys over. "We have more permanent translation charms for you to wear for better understanding. While wearing the charms you will be able to speak in your original language as well as in English, but to speak in your normal language you will have to concentrate."

Naruto and Gaara shared a look as McGonagall continued, "Before breakfast this morning you will both be sorted into houses. After breakfast you will meet with your new head or heads of house as they assign you a guide to follow during class hours. Tomorrow you will be tested for potential magic and taken to Diagon Alley for supplies."

"What if we don't have magic?" Naruto asked, looking a little apprehensive as his eyes darted between the two teachers.

"You will be staying here regardless. Having magic would just help the situation," McGonagall explained.

The blond was still looking nervous, a nice contrast next to Gaara's cool look of indifference. McGonagall sighed quietly and Flitwick stepped up to show the two how to adjust their charms around their necks in a choker-like fashion while explaining some of the cleaning and general maintenance charms also included.

McGonagall was quiet as she and Flitwick led the two boys down to the Great Hall after they had been given the chance to gather up their meager belongings. Naruto had just shoved what looked to be one of his knives into his pack from where he had hidden it under his pillow overnight. Gaara had just stood up and strapped on his gourd, ignoring Flitwick who was hovering around him curiously. Both boys were discreetly watching their surroundings as they were led down stone halls.

They stopped for a moment in front of one of the many gargoyles as McGonagall disappeared behind the hidden door before reappearing with a tattered hat clutched gingerly in one of her hands. The two ninja didn't blink, chalking it up to something that happened normally around the castle. Traveling with Jiraiya had taught Naruto when to freak out and when to save it for later, and now was _definitely_ a later situation, and Gaara was Gaara, stoic and composed when he wasn't acting homicidal.

McGonagall stopped them right in front of the doors to the Great Hall and turned around, pushing her glasses up her nose as she regarded to two boys waiting to enter. Naruto blinked up at the Professor as she started in on the ground rules being laid down for him and Gaara. A few times Naruto scowled and protested, especially when McGonagall started in on Naruto punching Gaara, but when Gaara ominously shifted his sand and glared Naruto decided that it was time to shut up before something was leaked. Once the boys had settled she continued and explained the sorting process they were about to undergo.

McGonagall sighed as she looked over the two again and saw Naruto edging warily away from Gaara and his sand. She almost just shook her head and left them standing in the hallway, but she was a teacher, and it was her job to at least get them settled before leaving them to their own devices.

All eyes turned towards the doors to the Great Hall opened and McGonagall and Flitwick swept in followed calmly by Naruto and Gaara. The staff was nervous, all of them, as they watched the two boys walking calmly under the pressure of hundreds of eyes. The staff meeting had done little more than inform the staff of the situation, leaving most of the teachers less than trusting about the whole situation.

Once the doors to the Great Hall had closed behind them McGonagall summoned a stool and rested the Sorting Hat on it, sternly calling the boys over when they reluctantly stood near the doors. Both shifted while Dumbledore spoke, but McGonagall couldn't tell if it was because both boys were agitated or nervous or both.

As soon as Dumbledore was done he nodded to his Transfiguration professor to continue with the sorting. Naruto was up first. He sat nervously on the stool as McGonagall settled the hat onto his head, paling at the voice suddenly in his head and tensing as it started probing around. Naruto was startled when the hat suddenly pulled out of his mind and roared out, "GRYFFINDOR!" but at least it was out of his mind.

Gaara looked even more reluctant than Naruto had to approach the stool. But with McGonagall calling him forward and Naruto steady but pale he squared his shoulders and sat stoically as the hat found what it was looking for in his mind, thankfully bypassing Shukaku before bellowing out it's choice of, "SLYTHERIN!"

* * *

Naruto wasn't sure how comfortable he was with being pushed towards a table of people he only vaguely recognized. Professor McGonagall was pushing him towards a long table on the opposite side of the room of the table that Gaara was being led to by the dark-haired Professor Snape. He wasn't too sure about leaving Gaara at a table full of people who looked like they would rather gut him than accept him into their ranks either. So he balked until McGonagall practically dragged him to an open seat and dropped him onto one of the wooden benches.

Gaara gave Snape a cold look as he took his own seat, ignoring everyone around him in favor of waiting for breakfast. His housemates were watching him with open suspicion, whispering amongst themselves as they gave him a wide berth while deciding what to do about their new addition. He didn't have to wait long. One of the older boys with platinum blond hair had risen from his end of the table and was clearing heading in the red head's direction.

As Draco got closer to the new boy he got a better look at the red head. Initially he'd been prepared to make a Weasley crack, but the closer he got the creepier the boy looked. It wasn't only the dark rings around his eyes, the lack of eyebrows, the tattoo, and the gourd, but the boy's whole demeanor in general. Personally Draco was happy that they got this one instead of the blond, but neither of the two would have been preferred.

"We're going to set down some ground rules here and now," Draco's voice was cold as he shivered under the red head's piercing gaze. "Now that you're in our house you will have to step up to our standards. We don't tolerate losers and crybabies."

Gaara watched the blond boy silently, noting the way his eyes were everywhere but on him as the blond started talking. Gaara watched impassively as two hulking boys came to stand behind the blond boy, looming over the blond's slimmer form in a clear intimidation tactic. The intimidation tactic did absolutely nothing to Gaara, most hadn't fazed him since he was five, and the few people who did make an impression (with the exception of Naruto) were quickly killed afterwards. Luckily for Draco he noticed this and motioned for Crabbe and Goyle to back off before the strange boy decided to do something rash.

"I'm telling you now, we don't tolerate failure. We don't tolerate mixed loyalties either. In this house you're either with us or against us, and believe me, you don't want to be against us," Draco said. He waited until Gaara nodded before continuing, "Now that we're clear, I'd like to welcome you to the Slytherin house."

* * *

Naruto scowled angrily as he turned to look at Gaara only to find McGonagall still standing over him at the Gryffindor table. She'd plopped him down onto the bench and had started standing over him once he popped right back in order to go sit with Gaara on the other side of the room. As he reluctantly sat down the second time she pointed out a few of the students that were going to be in his year, especially Harry, Ron, and Hermione who were sitting next to and across from where McGonagall had sat Naruto.

"If you would stay in your seat I could actually get around to eating my own breakfast," McGonagall snapped, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared down and the twitchy blond. "So sit still until breakfast is over so that we can all eat."

Naruto hunched over and scowled as McGonagall swept back up to where the teachers were all calmly eating their breakfasts. After a moment he sighed and looked up at the Gryffindors watching him curiously. He glared around at them before watching them eat, just to make sure that nothing was poisoned. He'd performed a simple jutsu to test for poisons the night before, but with everyone eating that really wasn't necessary.

"So, where did you and the Slytherin boy stay the night?"

Naruto looked up to see the same bushy-haired girl who had been yelling at him the day before watching him curiously as he chose some eggs and bacon for breakfast.

He frowned at her before answering, "Gaara and I stayed in the infirmary. Why?"

"We were just wondering," she explained, still watching him. "You weren't in any of the houses, so you obviously had to be somewhere else."

"Well, yeah," Naruto said sarcastically, rolling his eyes when the bushy-haired girl huffed. "Why do you care?"

"Ignore her, she doesn't have anything better to do," the red head next to the bushy-haired girl smiled brightly despite the elbow digging into his ribs. "I'm Ron Weasley. This annoying girl is Hermione Granger, and the black-haired boy next to you is Harry Potter."

Naruto blinked and looked over at Harry who was watching Ron's breakfast disappear with avid interest. The blond watched Harry for a moment, concentrating until he could remember what exactly he had heard about the boy.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, making more than just Harry's head turn towards him. "You're the one who pulled Gaara and me here!"

Harry's brilliant green eyes widened and he scooted as far away from the blond as the crowded bench would allow, hand hovering nervously around his hidden wand.

"Are you going to hurt me or something?" Harry asked nervously.

"No," Naruto drawled, shaking his head at the whole group as they visibly relaxed. "Sheesh, you guys act like I'm going to attack you or something."

"That was our first assumption, yes," Hermione said, absentmindedly rubbing the feeling back into the hand that had been squeezed by Ron.

"Well, you're wrong. Normally you would be right, but this situation is a little different than all of the others I've been in," Naruto said with a shrug.

He turned to look at Gaara and found him being confronted by a blond boy and his two goons. Naruto bristled, but a warning look from McGonagall stopped him from getting up and going to the other table. He had already tested her patience as much as she was going to allow for the day. With a growl he turned around, savagely stabbing his eggs as he glared at the table.

"Malfoy's already moving in. That boy's not even there for five minutes and he's already being harassed," Ron said in disgust, shaking his head at the sight of the blond and his goons.

"The red head _is_ in Malfoy's house. He is the one who does the introductions," Hermione said with a scowl as she watched Draco sit down across from Gaara and motion for the rest of the group to join him around the new teen.

Naruto was silent as he continued to idly stab at his breakfast. Chopsticks would have been easier to use, but forks were easier to maul food with. He wasn't comfortable with being separated from the only person that he knew and being forced into the company of the people who had yanked him from his own world.

Naruto blinked as everyone around him started to get up, picking their bags up as they started to head out the doors of the Great Hall as they mingled with students of other houses.

McGonagall's magically magnified voice echoed around the hall as she called for the students she needed to remain behind, "Mr. Uzumaki, Mr. Gaara, Mr. Potter, and Mr. Malfoy, would you please stay behind and meet with your heads of houses."

Naruto hesitated as he stood up, resting his weight against the heavy table as he watched everyone file out of the large hall. Gaara had stood up and made his way towards Professor Snape, ignoring the curious looks he was getting from other students and his housemates. After a moment Naruto moved easily through the dwindling masses of people to appear at Gaara's side, watching Snape suspiciously. Gaara glanced over at Naruto and blinked before returning his gaze forward as they were joined on opposite sides by Harry and Draco.

Professor McGonagall joined their small group as soon as the last students were out of the hall, leaving them alone so that she and Snape could explain their situation without interference.

"For today you will just be following your housemates to their classes," McGonagall said. "You should be together for most of your classes and for meals, but you will be separated in your houses at nights and during free periods."

"Mr. Malfoy you will be escorting Gaara, and Mr. Potter you will be escorting Mr. Uzumaki. Tomorrow you will be tested and then taken to Diagon Alley by myself and Professor McGonagall. I expect all of you in my classroom in five minutes," Snape said, eyes watching the new teens as they kept their faces carefully blank. Oddly enough their faces reminded him of soldiers…

Snape shook his head and glared, ridding himself of the image of the two as anything other than the stupid brats they were, even though Gaara was now in his house. McGonagall looked at him for a moment before giving both Naruto and Gaara warning looks as she and Snape left the two boys on their own with Draco and Harry.

Naruto and Gaara watched as Draco and Harry all but squared off against each other with looks that promised nothing short of death. Finally Draco smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, radiating a superior air that was obviously bred into him. Naruto winced at the feeling of déjà vu he had when he realized who the blond boy reminded of and found that Draco resembled a blond Sasuke.

"We should go," Gaara said, turning and heading towards the closing doors as Naruto scrambled to catch up, yelling loudly for Gaara to wait up.

Draco and Harry stared at each other for a few more moments before turning and following the two ninja exiting the Great Hall.

"Make sure to keep your Gryffindors away from the dungeons," Draco snapped as he watched Naruto nearly stick to Gaara's side.

"Same goes for your Slytherins. Keep them away and we won't have any problems," Harry growled back, keeping his hands carefully fisted at his sides.

"Come on! We can't find our way around, and you two are going really slow! What's the hold-up?"

Naruto's voice echoed clearly back to the two young wizards. They shared a glare before moving faster to catch up to their respective boy.

Snape glared at them as they entered, waving them to the open seats in the back when they entered about a minute late. Naruto and Gaara ended up taking the seats in the middle, acting as a buffer between the two angry boys. With a swirl of robes Snape turned back to the blackboard and continued writing the shield spells, their pronunciations, and their effects as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"Today we will be working on the most basic of shield spells meant to protect you from the simplest of hexes, jinxes, and malevolent charms. Today alone you will be able to vocalize your attacking spells, but in the days to come you will not be allowed to speak them out loud. You will only be able to vocalize your shield spells until you have them mastered to a point I will deem sufficient, then you will not be able to vocalize them either. This will also make your shields weaker, a perfect reason as to why you should all get better at internalized spells," Snape's explanation ended in a sinister hiss that sent shivers down the spines of every student that wasn't Slytherin.

"S-Sir? How will we know if our spells are good enough?"

Neville's voice had qualities similar to that of a kicked dog, as if he expected Professor Snape to look across the room and hex him for asking a question. Snape smirked, letting the question hang ominously in the air before answering it in his oily, low voice.

"You will know if you spells are good enough because _I_ will be testing them _personally_."

Neville squeaked and slumped onto his desk with an air of despair as Hermione patted him comfortingly on the back. With a smirk Snape looked around the classroom one last time before starting to assign partners. Millicent growled as she was once again partnered with Neville, Hermione and Pansy shared glares, and Harry and Draco gave each other equally superior looks over the heads of Naruto and Gaara when Snape assigned them to work together.

"Gaara and Uzumaki, just keep quiet and don't make a mess. Otherwise, I don't care what you do."

Naruto shrugged at Gaara as Snape passed them by before they both pulled out a few scrolls and unrolled them across their desks. As hexes, jinxes, and charms started to fly through the air Gaara's sand started to swirl around his form, occasionally coming up to cover him and his desk in a partial sphere as errant spells came too close.

"_Protego!_"

A rather forceful spell was rebounded by the shield spell directly towards Gaara. At the bright flash of light Naruto looked up and yelped before diving under his desk as the spell headed for the red head. Naruto winced at the sudden explosion of sound as Gaara's sand dropped it's gourd shape, formed a partial dome around Gaara's body and shot out on the trail of the spell to slam the unfortunate shielder into the wall.

Screams broke out around the classroom as a wave of sand shot across the room and pinned Hermione to the nearest stone wall. She gasped and started to vainly squirm as sand encased her from the shoulders down, rendering movement practically impossible. Pandemonium reigned as everyone anywhere near a grain of sand scrambled to get as far away as possible.

Naruto growled as he emerged from under the desk and saw Hermione pinned against the far wall by a very familiar looking glob of sand. The blond looked over at the red head who was still reading his scrolls with an unconcerned air as his sand pinned the bushy-haired girl to the wall. A few hand seals later there were a few more Narutos in the room and all of them were ready to pile onto Gaara.

"Gaara! Hey, Gaara! Release the sand!"

One of the Narutos got onto the desk in front of Gaara and leaned forward until his face was pressed in too close. Gaara's head whipped up, nearly hitting Naruto's nose as the red head glared at the blond invading his personal space.

"Damn it, Gaara! Just release the sand already!"

Gaara gave Naruto a look on the border of annoyance and homicidal as all of the sand in the room fell limply to the floor. They shared a look for a moment as sand swirled and slithered across the floor and back to Gaara as the red head's gourd reformed in the leather straps on his back.

"I thought I told you two to _keep quiet and to not make a mess_," Snape's voice could have frozen hell as he swept over to tower over the two ninja.

"Hey! There were flashes of harmful light flying everywhere! It isn't his fault," Naruto shouted, waving one of his hands energetically as if it would help him make his point.

"YOU PINNED A STUDENT TO THE WALL WITH SAND!"

Every student winced and stopped whatever they were doing and stared at Snape with open mouths. Even the students who had been screaming about the sand and Hermione who was starting to yell at Gaara stopped what they were doing in order to stare at the only teacher who kept his composure at all costs.

"Uh," Naruto's stumbling retort was cut off by the sound of students happily filing into the hallway creating a din of happy chatter.

"Class dismissed," Snape snarled, still looming over the two shinobi. "I'll deal with you two later."

Naruto and Gaara left along with the rest of the six-year students, following Harry and Draco down to the dungeons. Once the Slytherins got over the fact that the sand pinned someone to a wall (pinned Hermione Granger, and she'd had it coming for years in their eyes) Gaara found himself surrounded by his smirking housemates as they clustered around him and Naruto and congratulated Gaara on a job well done. Half way to the dungeons most of the group split off, leaving Naruto and Gaara in the company of Draco and Blaise who were eyeing Naruto suspiciously.

"Welcome, welcome. Today you will be allowed to make a healing potion. Your goal is to make the best potion while I talk with our new students," Slughorn and his chins grinned over the small class as he lumbered over to the table Naruto and Gaara had claimed.

Hermione finally stopped glaring venomously at Gaara and shifted her dirty looks onto Harry instead, whispering angrily as Harry flipped though his potions book eagerly.

"So, you two are the new boys. What are your connections? Who is in your family?" Slughorn leaned too close to the shinobi as he leaned over the desk, making Gaara glare and Naruto wrinkle his face up in disgust.

When Naruto and Gaara were silent too long for Slughorn the man snorted and crossed his pudgy arms over his chest and exclaimed, "Well! We have two silent ones here. Don't worry, I'll get to you yet," before walking back to the front of the room to hover over various caldrons, especially Harry's.

"This guy is creepy," Naruto whispered to Gaara, shuddering as he watched Slughorn lumber around the room.

Gaara snorted and pulled out his scrolls again as Naruto started looking over his shoulder, ignoring the not-so-sly looks Slughorn was sending their way.

"Actually, this whole place is creepy. I can't wait to go home."

**TBC… **

Revised 2/18/06. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and the continued encouragement despite delays.


	4. Adjusting

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. (But I do own the movie…)

**A Simple Mistake **

By: TF

**Chapter 04: Adjusting **

Naruto gave McGonagall a blank look as she held two sticks in front of him and Gaara and ordered them to take the stick and give it a quick swish. Casually he looked over at Gaara to see the other boy wearing an equally blank, yet more menacing, face as the older woman huffed impatiently at their hesitation.

"If even one of you would just take a wand we could get this process over with quicker," Snape said from somewhere behind McGonagall as he lounged against the Slytherin table.

"What's the point of swishing a stick?" Naruto asked, still eyeing the wands warily.

"As we have explained before, to test for any magical potential. We discussed this as a group yesterday before breakfast," McGonagall said.

"But swishing a stick?"

"We're looking for the results of you swishing the stick," Snape snapped.

With a look of disdain Gaara reached in front of Naruto and took one of the test wands from McGonagall's hand. He examined the wand for a moment (whether he was looking for a possible weapon or not, Naruto couldn't tell, he had his sand anyway) before moving the end through the air in a sharp cutting motion. When nothing happened he frowned, dropped the stick, and returned to his former bored look.

"No, no. You have to swish the stick. You can't just slice it through the air and expect anything to happen. You have to give the wand some time to find and pull the magic out of you," McGonagall explained.

"Wait. You mean that this thing is going to pull energy out of us? I don't think that that's such a good idea," Naruto protested, waving his hands vigorously. "We've had experience with that, and it ain't pretty."

"It won't pull the magic out of you as much as show how much you have in a controlled form," Snape said as he approached the table. "There are other ways to do this, but they tend to be _messy_."

Naruto gulped and looked at Gaara. The red head was giving the elder man a look that clearly read "overstatement." When one of your main attacks is crushing someone to death with sand, messy is never a problem. Drenched, covered, or encrusted were problems, but never messy.

Gaara picked the wand up again and swished it with deliberate slowness, as is mocking the assignment. Red sparks flew out of the end of the wand, hitting and singeing the table instead of fading in the air, making both teachers jump. Naruto was next, muscles tensed with the effort not to swish the wand as quickly as he could just to get the whole assignment over with. Gold sparks flew out of the wand tip and scattered over the table to singe the areas that the red sparks hadn't.

"Well, both of you have a good deal of magical potential," McGonagall said as she watched the Naruto drop his wand in surprise. "That will make it easier for you to fit in a catch up in class."

"Wait, you actually expect us to try to learn this stick waving crap?" Naruto asked. "That's worse than Kakashi taking us on a mission to Snow Country."

When Gaara gave him a look Naruto added, "Before it thawed."

"If you are staying in our school, then you are following our rules and learning," Snape said. "We have things to do other than to cater to your dilemma."

Before Naruto could open his mouth and say something rude McGonagall took over the situation, but not before giving Snape a hard look.

"It will be easier for us to help you if you go to class. Besides, learning new skills shouldn't be frowned upon," she said. "Now, we need to head to Diagon Alley before it starts getting crowded."

She got up and led the way out of the Great Hall. They stopped after a few twists and turns in the teachers' lounge in front of the large fireplace. While each teacher had a fireplace that accessed the floo network in their private rooms they had a larger one in the teachers' lounge for groups of students.

"This is a fireplace. How are we supposed to travel through a fireplace?" Naruto asked loudly.

"There is a thing called the "floo network" that connects the fireplaces together. Through it one can travel almost anywhere in England or Europe by naming their destination," McGonagall explained. "You take a pinch of floo powder, throw it into the fire, then state the name of your destination clearly. In this case you will say "Diagon Alley" as you step into the fire."

Both boys hesitated as they looked between the fire and the professors. Neither was stupid, fire tended to burn when aimed in your direction, even during a jutsu gone wrong. Willingly stepping into a fire tended to not be a good idea in most cases.

"If you two aren't going to move, then let me show you how its done and get this trip over with," Snape said. He took a pinch of powder from the vase, threw it into the fire, waited until the flames turned green, then stepped in while calling "Diagon Alley" clearly as he disappeared.

"See? The floo network is harmless. Now get moving, we have a lot to get done today."

The boys shared a look again before Naruto stepped forward, threw the powder into the fire, and disappeared amidst green flames.

* * *

Diagon Alley was bustling. Everyone who had plans for the evening or wanted to get their shopping done earlier had crowded they alley. When Naruto and Gaara had emerged from the fireplace they were not only covered in soot, but on the defensive until they realized that they were in a pub. They quickly acted relaxed, but not before McGonagall caught the flash of light reflecting off of a kunai. She made a mental note to have a talk with both the boys and the headmaster about removing their weapons when they got back to the school.

Snape led the way through the mass of people that crowded alley and stores, the others trailing behind. It was hard for both Naruto and Gaara to resist making a few clones to take point and spread through the crowd to look for threats. They were being hit hard with the knowledge that they didn't know what potential threats would look like.

They needed everything from the First Year list and more. Soon both boys were loaded with secondhand books, writing supplies, caldrons, and potions ingredients. It was only at the robe shop that McGonagall and Snape ran into difficulties.

"I am not wearing a dress," Naruto said stubbornly. He had his arms crossed over his chest and was eyeing the black robes with disdain.

"These are robes, not dresses," McGonagall protested. "They are the standard uniform, everyone wears them."

"I am not wearing a dress," Naruto repeated stubbornly.

McGonagall sighed and looked to Gaara who had a look of distaste on his face as he looked around the store. No one had even tried to get Gaara into a robe. He was giving anyone who neared a look guaranteed to make them skitter away in fear.

"Mr. Uzumaki, we can't just let you run around in that orange monstrosity for weeks on end. Not only would it get dirty, it would start to smell and offend your housemates and the nose of everyone else nearby," McGonagall said.

"Then stop showing me dresses. I am not a girl," Naruto said.

"I assume you feel the same," McGonagall said, looking over her shoulder at Gaara.

"Yes."

McGonagall threw her hands into the air in frustration before going to talk to the shop owner about the boys' request. Snape had refused to help with clothes, claiming that it was a woman's area before going to replenish his own potions supplies.

"You realize that she will make you give up your orange," Gaara said as soon as McGonagall was out of hearing range.

Naruto looked mournfully at his bright outfit before sighing, "I knew that it would come to this sooner or later. Everyone has been trying to do this for years."

"Why not give it up?"

"Why should I? This, actually an earlier version of this, was the first thing that I paid for on my own once every caretaker had abandoned me. It has sentimental value," Naruto said.

Gaara nodded, and the two of them stood in silence until McGonagall came back with pants, shirts, and coats in various colors. They grimaced, but complied when asked to spread their arms and allow cords to be drawn around their arms, shoulders, and waists for measurements. They were each individually drawn aside and asked about undergarments, leaving Gaara even more irritated and Naruto blushing bright red. Normally the blond would have leered and made a joke, but being asked about underwear by an elder woman in a strange place was more embarrassing than anything else.

They soon came away from the robe shop with enough clothes to last two weeks each. When they add that to their other packages they were almost overloaded. By the time they got back to the pub both boys were jittery and jumping when someone got too close. Only when they were back in Hogwarts did they calm somewhat.

Snape and McGonagall separated in order to lead the boys back to their separate dormitories so that they could unpack their individual loads. Afterwards both teachers were going to meet with the headmaster to discuss the day and their individual opinions. Neither had missed the boys' paranoia, or the way they tensed as if ready to spring when approached by someone or something new. Both felt that it was an interesting reaction, one that people so young shouldn't have. The more they knew about these boys the better they would be prepared to deal with anything new that happened.

* * *

Gaara glared angrily around the Slytherin common room and its occupants. He was still cold despite the fire roaring merrily away in the fireplace. He came from a place of warmth and overpowering sunlight and waves of heat that shimmered for miles into the distance. He _was not_ equipped to deal with a place of cold, stone, and days of dreary mist and rain. If this had been a mission he would have been prepared, but this wasn't a mission, and he wasn't prepared, and he was _fucking_ cold.

The other Slytherins steered clear of Gaara and the murderous look on his face. Even the normally bold Draco Malfoy and his cronies found better things to do. They sat in a far corner and whispered, but they didn't move any closer than absolutely necessary.

For a while Gaara sat close to the fire and huddled down while wrapped in his new cloak. The material was thick and warm, but not warm enough. It didn't help that the only thing that seemed to seep through the Slytherin common room was cold. It was no wonder all of the Slytherins wore their own cloaks in the common room as well. When he realized that the fire was doing little more than warming his face he silently got up and left the common room in search of warmth.

Grains of sand spread out ahead of him, searching for Naruto amidst the maze of the castle. As he walked Gaara let more and more of the sand go until only a faint outline of the gourd was left. He closed his eyes and concentrated until he picked up the taste of Naruto's aura. He smiled faintly as he called the rest of his sand back to him and followed the trail until it led him to a portrait of a fat woman at the base of a tower.

"You aren't a Gryffindor," the woman stated snobbishly.

"Let me in," Gaara commanded, glaring at the painting until it cringed. He hated pieces of artwork that talked back (there were jutsus that involved ink paintings back home, so this wasn't a big change).

"You need the password," the painting replied fearfully.

Gaara continued to glare as he released some sand and sent it under the portrait and into the area behind. He clasped his hands together and quickly performed the seals for his third eye technique. Behind the portrait was a room decorated in red and gold with a fire blazing in the hearth and cushy chairs and couches strewn out in front. His vision slid forward until he could see Naruto lounging in a chair as he watched a one-sided game of chess between a gangly red head and the black haired boy with glasses.

He manipulated the sand until it swirled up in front of Naruto's face, causing the blond boy to blink in surprise. Gaara sighed as Naruto stared at the eye of sand until it dawned on him that he should open the door and go looking for the other shinobi.

"Gaara! I didn't think that you were supposed to come up here," Naruto said as he pushed the portrait door open and allowed Gaara to step through the threshold.

Warmth instantly sank into Gaara's clothes as he moved into the room. A few cries of protest also went up when Gaara entered the room, but he silenced those with a glare as he followed Naruto back to where the blond had previously been sitting.

"I don't think that you're allowed in here," Ron said when Gaara took a spot near the flames.

Gaara gave him a harsh look before settling himself in. Naruto snickered at the way Ron cringed before turning his attention to the rest of the room.

"He's right. Only Gryffindors are allowed in the Gryffindor common room," Hermione piped up, carefully ignoring Gaara and the annoyed look he was shooting her.

"I would like to see you make him leave," Naruto said, smiling innocently when he received annoyed looks.

"You shouldn't have let him in," Ron snapped.

"Why not?" Naruto asked. "If you were dumped in a new place with only one familiar person you would stay with them as much as possible too."

"But you were sorted into different houses, and he's _Slytherin_," Ron stressed.

"Ron, drop it," Harry said, moving a chess piece. "He isn't causing problems."

"But Harry—"

"Drop it."

Ron shifted and muttered angrily under his breath, but moved his concentration back to the game at hand. The rest of the common room slowly settled down as well, skirting the area closest to the fire and the red head with darkly ringed eyes.

Naruto blinked when Harry and Ron called it a night and packed up the game. At the base of the spiral staircase that led to the boys' dormitory they paused and looked back at Naruto.

"Are you coming up?" Harry asked.

Naruto looked between them and Gaara and smirked.

"Nah. I'll be staying out here for the night. It's not like I haven't done so before," he called.

Harry shrugged and turned to go up the stairs, "Your choice."

Naruto's smile lagged as soon as Harry was out of sight. He turned back to Gaara with a pensive look on his face. The red head was still sitting on the couch closest to the fire with the air of not moving until morning.

"You do realize that we are going be in major trouble for this."

Gaara blinked and looked at Naruto. His hair was turned a deep burgundy red in the firelight and suddenly Naruto could understand how Gaara's mere appearance could strike fear into people. The boy looked just plain terrifying backlit as he was by the fire.

"Ah, who cares? I've been in worse trouble for some spray paint back home."

**TBC… **

I know, short. But it's got the ball rolling. I've also revised previous chapters. Nothing major, just a few things that I thought needed work and a few suggestions that made perfect sense.

Once again, thanks to everyone who has reviewed and waited so long. I appreciate your support and patience.


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